Blanketing

(As found in “Horse Rhymes” by B. Fowler–available on Amazon.com. See “Writing” tab above.)

I took my horse’s blanket off

I thought it would be nice

She’d roll and run and have a blast

I shrugged and rolled the dice.

My gamble didn’t quite pay off

For storms and rain and snow

Have thundered ‘cross the sky this week

And oh, the wind did blow

I tried to reason out my choice

But really couldn’t see

Naught but my pony shivering

Out there because of me

Today is supposed to reach 50 degrees. The ponies are staying blanketed all morning, and if I have to remove the blankets midday, that’s fine. I’m constantly checking the temperature to make sure the ponies aren’t out roasting alive out there.

It’s a constant worry that I’ll leave the blankets on too long and the horses will be overly warm in the pasture. The problem is, of course, that if the blanket is on and the horse sweats, when it comes time to remove the blanket, the horse will be wet–and then become cold when the blanket’s removed. So far, I’ve never had that happen–but I’m extra vigilant on days like today. The problem remains that if the blankets are off, the horses will become wet anyway (from the rainy, slushy stuff coming down)–a catch-22. I fear I’d have the issue mentioned in the poem above.

So I’ll watch the weather. Scrutinize the thermometer outside the kitchen window. Test the weather by walking outside without my coat on. Hopefully, we’ll get to springtime–and we won’t need blankets at all.